


Hark now hear the angels sing

by liionne



Series: Oh darlin', I need you [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 12:12:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8979193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liionne/pseuds/liionne
Summary: "Bucky wants to give her a Christmas name." He says, pulling down his shirt and jumping down from the bed."Well, it is that season." Daniels says, which causes Bucky to give a haughty-sounding laugh."She's not a Christmas baby, she's a regular human being!" Steve insists, Bucky laughing as he ushers him out.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little Christmas thing - I hope you all enjoy! Apologies for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes. I'm a lazy beta when it comes to my own work!

Bucky lifts Noah up, letting him set up the star on the tree. He's two now, but he's growing fast - their doctor said that was probably to be expected. He was the son of two super soldiers, being a little bigger than average wasn't particularly surprising. He's also a little more advanced than the other kids at daycare - again, their doctor says that's probably to be expected. He can talk pretty coherently a lot of the time, and he's almost got the hang of dressing himself - those aren't bad things. He claps his hands as Bucky sets him back on the ground, and he toddles off to his toys, which are sitting in the centre of the room, by Steve's feet.  
  
Steve is huge. Well - tiny. He's tiny again. It doesn't bother him half as much as it did last time, because he knows after this he'll hit a growth spurt and be back to normal again. And honestly? He'd do anything if it meant that his baby was okay.  
  
And so far, everything _is_  okay. No collapsing and trips to the hospital like last time - no, his second pregnancy has been not half as dramatic as the first, and he thinks it's because he's so _relaxed_. Bucky keeps asking him if he's smoking weed or going for massages or something, but it's not that. He just doesn't have anything to worry about, as far as he can tell. He knows what pregnancy is like, he knows how it goes. He isn't even frightened about the birth - he's got everything all planned out, and ready to go.  
Except for one thing.  
  
"I just think we should give her a Christmassy name." Bucky says, his eyebrows arching as he begins packing up the empty boxes that the ornaments and baubles had been in.  
  
"She's due on the 21st, Steve. That's like--" He pauses for a second. "Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve. She's a Christmas baby."

"She's a regular human being who's going to have a regular human name." Steve says, his hands rubbing over his stomach. She very rarely moves now - that had been perhaps the only thing he'd worried about, but when the doctor had come by for his check up, she'd assured him that it was just the baby running out of room - there was only two weeks til his due date, so it was getting kind of cramped in there. He presses a fingertip to where he knows her feet to be, and he looks up. "You hear me, Barnes?"  
  
"Loud and clear, Rogers." Bucky hollers over his shoulder, heading up to the attic.  
  
They had an attic, now - in fact, they had an entire house. In the suburbs. Like grown ups. It had scared the living daylights out of both of them, going house hunting, but Steve and Bucky had made a unanimous decision that they could no longer live on the 20th floor of a tower in the middle of Manhattan. Noah needed room to grow, and they needed outdoor space, somewhere their babies could play. Tony had made an actual list of pros and cons as to why they should stay at the tower, but they had already agreed; they were getting a place of their own.  
  
And the place they have is nice; it's close enough to the city that they can both be there if they're needed, and far enough away that any impending disasters shouldn't flatten it, or the great big back yard out back.  
  
It's weird, and domestic, and Steve _loves_ it. Bucky does too, as far as he can tell.  
  
Steve hums to himself as he stretches his shirt down over his swollen stomach, and looks down when Noah comes over, patting at his leg. "Daddy, up." He demands, and Steve obliges, lifting him into his lap - or what's left of it, anyway. At least with his feet propped up like they are he can sit on Steve's legs.  
  
"Daddy, when she's going to come out?" Noah asks, tiny little hands pressed to Steve's overgrown stomach. His hair is a little lighter than Bucky's these days, a soft chocolate brown, and his curls fall into his eyes as he pushes himself up to standing. They need to get it cut, but they're always loathe to - he's adorable like this.  
  
"Soon, Noah," Steve assures him, taking hold of his hands. "A couple of weeks - she should be here just before Christmas."  
  
"Is she my present?" Noah asks, and Steve laughs just as Bucky enters the room, lifting Noah up and holding him on his hip.  
  
"She's no one's present, apparently." He says, but he's looking at Steve. "She's a regular human being."  
  
"A reguhlar human bean." Noah repeats as best he can, and Steve snickers.  
  
"See? Now we're all getting it." Steve smiles, shifting a little in his seat.

  
~*~

  
Bucky is getting better at being around doctors. Now when they touch Steve, he doesn't growl and snap at them - he just gets unbearably clingy. Right now he has his nose pressed to Steve's temple, his hand on his shoulder as the doctor does her last few checks. They'd gotten themselves a new doctor since the last time, through no other reason than Harvey had left SHIELD in the interim between his first pregnancy and his second. She's a pretty damn good doctor, and she's also good with Bucky - she puts up with his clinginess, and the occassional growl. Steve appreciates it.  
  
"Well, everything looks fine." She smiles, setting the scanner down and cleaning Steve's stomach of gel. "She looks healthy and happy, and ready to see you just in time for Christmas."  
  
"See? Christmas baby." Bucky says in Steve's ear, to which Steve rolls his eyes.  
  
"How's the naming thing coming along?" Doctor Daniels asks, and Steve huffs. "Bucky wants to give her a Christmas name." He says, pulling down his shirt and jumping down from the bed.  
  
"Well, it is that season." Daniels says, which causes Bucky to give a haughty-sounding laugh.  
  
"She's not a Christmas baby, she's a regular human being!" Steve insists, Bucky laughing as he ushers him out.

  
~*~

  
The nursery is gorgeous, and Steve actually got to help this time. The walls are a soft yellow colour, the blankets and the sheets for the crib white, as Bucky had said he didn't want anything pink - he didn't like pink. And anyway, those Lion King onesies from the Disney Store were yellow, and those were all he cared about.  
  
"You're fussing again." Bucky accuses, but his voice is soft, sweet. He wraps his arms around Steve from behind, his hands settled on top of his stomach, pressed to his chest, and he kisses his neck. The bond mark on Steve's neck pulses a little, and he smiles.  
  
"Yeah, I know." He murmurs. "Last few days are just... hard. I mean, we're prepared for everything - _everything_  - and now we just have to... wait."  
  
"Good job you're god's most patient man." Bucky teases, and Steve huffs, turning a little in Bucky's arms so he can face him, his back pressed against the crib. He looks up at Bucky and he smiles a little wider, reaching up to push a lock of hair out of his eyes. Bucky kisses the tip of Steve nose. "You're still not worried?" He asks.  
  
Steve shrugs his skinny, bony shoulders. "It's starting to set in." He admits.  
  
"Two weeks to go," Bucky sighs. "We can make it."

  
~*~

  
They do, in fact, make it.  
  
They make it past that.  
  
The twenty-first comes, and Steve spends the entire day pacing, rubbing his swollen stomach, cooing softly for her to start making an appearance. She doesn't. He lies on his side, molded into a full body pillow that Bucky bought him when he found out he was pregnant again, and he watches the numbers on the clock by his bed tick from 23:59 to 00:00. It was the twenty second of December, and there was no baby.

  
~*~

  
"I couldn't keep the last one in, now this one doesn't want to come out." Steve laments the next afternoon, frowning down at his stomach. "What the hell's wrong with me."  
"It's better to be late than to be early, Steve." Sam says, sipping the cup of decaffeinated coffee Steve had offered him, that he was far too polite to turn down. "Baby-wise, I guess."  
  
"Well, I don't like it." Steve said, again frowning down at his stomach. "She needs to hurry up and get out, before I start getting cranky. I don't want to be one of those overdue pregnant omegas that starts getting all snappy and snarky just because their baby's outstayed their welcome." He sighs.  
  
Sam, in response, smiles. "I think it might be too late for that." He grins, and Steve points his glare at his best friend this time. "Hey, can I ask," Sam begins, leaning close to Steve. "When _do_  you think she'll get here? We're having bets over at the tower and if I win, I'll split the money with you."  
  
"Get out of my house." Steve replies, but he's only half serious, a smile on his lips as their conversation moves on to other things.

  
~*~

  
"Daddy, daddy, daddy!" Noah calls as he runs into the room the next day - Christmas Eve Eve. Steve hates putting Noah into daycare, especially when he should definitely be at home, but Bucky had been at the tower - they had new recruits, and they needed to be trained - and Steve had another doctor's appointment to see what was going on in their. Daniels's apparent reason was that it was just kinda nice in there, and "baby's just trying to stay warm when it's so cold out", which had made Steve wanted to strangle her.  
  
Luckily, he hadn't.  
  
"Hey, honey," Steve smiled, shifting to his knees so he wouldn't have to lift Noah up, though it did mean he was going to have to stay there for the rest of his pregnancy, however long that may be. "What you got for me?" He asks, smiling as he looks at Noah's little hand, and the piece of paper he holds inside it.  
  
"It's not for you." Noah explains, holding the picture in both hands. It's a variety of scribbles and some glitter, but it's cute. "It's for Holly!"  
  
"For who?" Steve asks, still in that baby-ish voice he tends to put on when he's talking to Noah, though his eyes are on Bucky, squinting at him.  
  
"Holly!" Noah smiles, and he goes off, singing it to himself as he toddles around the room.  
  
"Did you give our baby a name without consulting me?" Steve asks Bucky, a hand on his stomach almost defensively. Someone had to fight her corner, right?  
  
"Hey, he came up with it, not me." Bucky says, holding his hands up in mock-surrender before smiling at Steve, moving close to kiss him. "We shouldn't limit our son's creativity."  
  
Steve rolls his eyes, and he moves to peck Bucky's cheek softly. "No more names." He says, wagging a finger at Bucky. "No more."  
  
"No more." Bucky grins, and he pulls Steve in for one last kiss before he goes to stop Noah from climbing onto the kitchen counters.

  
~*~

  
Christmas Eve is a busy day, because Noah is full of energy. And it's nice, and it's cute, but at 6am when he's bouncing between Bucky and Steve in bed, asking how long it is til Santa's coming, Steve starts getting a little... well. Irritated.  
  
Bucky takes him out to play in the back garden for most of the morning - there's a light layer of snow on the ground, enough to make angels in and have a few snowball fights. "Hey--" Bucky calls from the yard, grinning at Steve. "How about Angelica?"  
  
Steve gives him a disdainful look, but manages to refrain from flipping him off.  
  
Their antics in the snow tire Noah out for a little while, so he has a nap and then he has his lunch, and then he's right back at it, tearing through their home.  
  
Steve, takes the afternoon shift, though Bucky insists he doesn't mind. He has an activity that he thinks Noah might like, and that should calm him down. "Hey, Noah - how about we make some christmas cookies for Santa?"  
  
Noah cheers for that idea, so Steve lets him run into the kitchen, and Bucky agrees to lift Noah up so that he can see the counter. Steve mixes the batter, with Noah's help, and they make it into a dough. Noah takes tiny handfuls, rolling them out to make into smiley faces until he finds the cookie cutters - he loves the cookie cutters. He's impatient as they cook, dancing in front of the oven, though he promises not to touch after Steve warns him of how hot it'll be.  
  
Once the cookies have been out and cooled and Noah has stopped dancing with impatience, Steve and Bucky sit him at the kitchen table to ice them and decorate them. It's messy, of course - there's frosting behind Noah's ears, and in his hair, and Steve dreads to think where else it may be - but it does lead to one thing: bath-time.  
  
Bath-time always tires Noah out; something about warm water and the scent of soap, Steve assumes, just leads him to dropping off nice and easily afterward. Bucky offers to clean the kitchen whilst Steve conducts bath-time, and Steve can get on board with that.  
  
As he's washing Noah's hair - carefully, so as not to get soap in his eyes - he hears Noah sigh, and he looks down. "What's up, honey?"  
  
"I want her to get here." He pouts into the water, poking at his little toy boat. Steve gives him a sympathetic smile, rinsing his hair slowly. "Me too, kiddo."  
  
Once Noah has been dried off and dressed in his pyjamas, they put a movie on, but the poor kid doesn't make it to the end before he's fallen asleep, snoring lightly against Bucky's chest.  
  
"Shall I put him to bed?" Bucky asks, and Steve nods. Might as well, right? They didn't leave any milk or cookies out for Santa, but if Noah asks, Steve'll just say that he cleaned up after himself, or something. For now, he and Bucky put on a Christmas movie of their own, and settle down together.  
  
That is, until Steve feels a twinge.  
  
And then his waters break.  
  
"Oh my--"  
  
"I'll call Sam!" Bucky says, already up and away, skittering into the hallway.

  
~*~

  
With Sam looking after Noah and Bucky and Steve finally at the hospital (Christmas Eve traffic - Steve had been almost sure he was going to have the baby in the car, at one point), the omega begins to relax. What can go wrong now?  
  
"Okay, this is definitely a Christmas baby." Bucky argues with Steve as the nurse hooks him up to the mountains of monitors needed for himself and the baby. "She's going to be born on Christmas Eve! Hey, that's a good name - Eve?"  
  
"No." Steve sighs, sharing a glance with the nurse, who gives him a secret smile. Steve doubts she can empathise, but she can seemingly sympathise, and that's currently enough for him.  
  
"Noelle?" Bucky suggests a little while later. Again, Steve shakes his head.  
  
"Robin?" He suggests after that.  
  
Next he tries "Gabriella?", and then, "Bella?"  
  
He's still spouting out ridiculous sounding christmas-themed baby names as they wheel Steve into theatre, Bucky in a green gown at his side. "Emmanuelle?" He asks. "December?"  
  
Steve rolls his eyes, though he's smiling as he holds Bucky's hand, the tugging and the pulling at his stomach feeling odd, though not painful.  
  
Bucky keeps naming ridiculous names until, one minute after midnight, a baby is pressed into Steve's arms, screaming and a little bit red in the face, her tiny toes and fingers curling. Steve wraps her up in the offered blanket, holding her close to his chest, anything but their little baby forgotten for now.  
  
"I’ll let you call her Holly if it’ll shut you up for five minutes.” Steve says, looking over at Bucky, whose answering grin is blinding.  
  
"Knew I’d wear you down.”" He grins, kissing the top of Steve's head before grabbing the tiny hand of his little baby girl.

  
~*~

  
They do manage to get all three of them home for Christmas, even if it is just the afternoon.  
  
"He already opened all his presents." Sam says, smiling gently. The other Avengers had come over, as had been pre-arranged, and had seemingly made dinner - Steve and Bucky both appreciated it. Neither could remember the last time they'd eaten, come to think of it.  
  
"Is she here?" Noah asks, sitting in his high-chair by the table, almost knocking it over as he strains to see inside the carrier Bucky's holding. "Quiet voices, Noah," Natasha warns, lifting him out of his seat and letting him down, watching him run over to the little baby in it. "What's her name?" He asks, blinking up at his parents.  
  
"She's called Holly." Steve says, crouching down to show Noah better, letting him look right into the carrier.  
  
Noah hums a little, and he shrugs. "I liked Gabriella better." He says, toddling back off to his seat and asking to be put into it.  
  
"He liked Gabriella better." Bucky says, looking to Steve. He stands, and he laughs.  
  
Steve lifts their daughter out of the carrier, moving close to Bucky, leaning against him. "He'll learn to love it." He grins, moving into the room to show her off to their friends.

**Author's Note:**

> You can send any question, prompts or comments to [tumblr](http://liionne.tumblr.com/)
> 
> An update: a very long time after originally posting this fic, I’ve changed the name of the baby -  
> I must have liked Joy at the time, but it definitely hasn’t aged well and the sheer amount of comments about it being a crappy name helped my decision to make the change from Joy to Holly. Hopefully the fic still flows just as nicely!


End file.
